“Dear Neddy, I called you long ago,

Are you cold out here in the snow?

I would take you down to the kitchen below,

Only—”

“Cook is so cross I’m afraid to go;

When I wanted to help her knead the dough

She sent me away and scolded so,

But—”

“But if you are quiet and speak very low,

And try to walk on your very tip-toe,

We might go to the room where sisters sew,

Or—”

“Dear old Ned, you are as hoarse as a crow,

And you wobble your long ears to and fro,

But whatever you mean, I would like to know,

By—”